Valencian Electricity Planning proposes expanding connections to meet the needs of the ceramic industry, new housing, and transport electrification, which require a grid with greater capacity ahead of 2030.
The new MITECO proposal envisions addressing 3.8 GW of additional electricity demand for the Valencian Community, with special prominence given to Castellón’s ceramic industry, hydrogen production, and new housing developments.
Joan Groizard and Vicente Martínez met on October 15 to review the modifications to the document that is still being processed and had 2,566 comments received during the consultation phase that have since been examined.
The new plan for Valencia envisages new transmission lines and the reinforcement of those already in place, adding more capacity for renewables and storage. Among the priorities are the South Levante-Aragón axis and the urgent electrification of Castellón’s ceramic industry.
Valencian Electricity Planning
The Secretary of State for Energy, Joan Groizard, met yesterday at the Secretaría de Estado de Energía with Vicente Martínez, the Third Vice President and Councillor for Environment, Infrastructure, Territory and Recovery of the Generalitat Valenciana, to analyze the changes experienced by the Ministry’s Planning Proposal for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), after reviewing the 2,566 comments received during the consultation phase.
The meeting with the Valencian Government was part of a round of contacts with the autonomous communities, which is taking place in accordance with protocol, to explain the changes introduced in the new proposal within the framework of its processing.
Projects for the Valencian Community
In Valencia’s case, the new MITECO proposal includes the construction of seven new substation parks and improvements in most of the existing facilities, as well as the construction of 754 km of lines, to which is added the upgrading of another 718 km of conductors to increase their capacity. The share of line reinforcement in Valencia doubles the national average.
The South Levante-Aragón axis, key for the backbone of the transport network, is considered a priority project, as are several measures to maximize the transport-distribution interface and to improve the stability of the electrical system. As a result, these will be prioritized within the planning framework.
Overall, the MITECO proposes that the transmission networks increase their capacity to accommodate an additional demand of 3.8 GW, to which capacity arising in distribution networks will be added. Most of this will serve industrial needs (including the electrification of existing industries, such as Castellón’s ceramics) and hydrogen production, although the capacity allocated to new housing developments carries substantial weight compared with other regions; likewise, port electrification and land transport electrification stand out.
After completing the consultation phase, 15 new positions have been added, mostly to strengthen the capacity of distribution networks and enable connections for industry, housing, and hydrogen production.
The proposal also foresees increasing the access capacity allocated to renewable generation, with 2.6 GW, the majority for solar facilities under self-consumption schemes, and storage, with 850 MW, for reversible pumped-storage hydroelectric energy.
